Bottle-emptying apparatus.



H. BAYER.

BOTTLE EMPTYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATTON FILED APR. 9. 191s.

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H. BAYER.-

BOTTLE EMPTYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9. 1918.

1,292,994. Patented Feb.4,1919. l

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'PATENT FFICE.

HENRY BAYER, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

BOTTLE-EMPTYING APPARATUS.

Application led April 9, 1918.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY BAYER, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Emptying Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention pertains to the provision of novel bottle emptying apparatus, the present embodiment illustrating one application of my invention whereby full bottles of milk or cream returned to 'a dairy or Creamery may be emptied and then cleaned in an eX- peditious manner and at a minimum of cost. The invention has for its objects to provide a revoluble table or carrier having apertured portions arranged serially to receive in succession the full bottles which, in being fed into the apparatus by the operator, are deposited in inverted position to empty into a tank or suitable receptacle; to provide means actuated successively by the bottles insuring an intermittent, or step-by-step rtary movement of the table in a direction away from the feeding point; and to provide ymeans operative to cleanse the bottles, when emptied, prior to'their reaching the taking out or discharge point, the entire operation designed to partake of a continuous though intermittent character, and requiring the attention of but one operator who feeds in the full bottle with one hand and takes out the emptied cleansed bottles with the other.

These, together with such other objects as may hereinafter appear or are incident to my invention, I attain by means of a construction illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 illustrates a fron-t elevation of one embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a central vertical section taken through Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 represent top plan views of the drum and revoluble table respectively; and Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are views illustrating certain details of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, the frame 10 is provided at its lower end with a base 11 and at its' upper end with a drum 12, and has at one side thereof a cylinder 13 within which is suspended a weight 14.. Mounted in the frame substantially midway of the base 11 and drum 12 is a tank or receptacle 15, whose lower wall 16 is provided with a step bearing 17 for the shaft 18 which extends up- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 4, 1919.

Serial No. 227,473.

wardly from said bearing to have its upper end pass through and be journaled in a boss 19 formed in the base 20 of the drum 12. The reference numeral 21 indicates a jack shaft,journaled exteriorly of the drum 12 in bearings 22 and 23, and provided with gear 24 having a chain drive connection 25 with a pinion 26 formed on the upper end of the shaft 18. The `upper end of the jack shaft 21 is in turn provided with a pulley wheel 27 having secured to and passed about it a rope 28 which is secured to the weight 14 after being passed over the wheel 29 positioned in the head of the cylinder 13. I

Rigidly secured to the lower portion of the shaft 18, and disposed in the upper portion of the tank 15, is a revoluble table 30 formed adjacent its periphery with a series of bottle receiving apertures 31 whose axes are equidistant from the shaft 18 and from each other. In order that the weight may act when elevated in the cylinder to impart rotary movement to table 30, I provide the wheel 27 with a crank or lever 32, and the gear 24 with a pawl 34 normally in engagement with a ratchet pinion 33 secured to the shaft 21, the engagement between the pinion 33 and pawl 34 preventing relative movement of gear 24 1n one direction with respect to shaft 21, but permitting relative movement in the opposite direction when the crank 32 is rotated to wind up upon its rope 28 and thereby elevate the weight 14 in the cylinder 13. This cylinder may be extended to any height or depth as may be desired, and the means shown for imparting this rotary movement to the table is that which I have, in practice, found most desirable, though other means may be used without in any way departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Disposed intermediately of the apertures 31 and secured to the under face of the table 30 is a series of radial rods or bars 35 whose opposing faces are rovided with bearings 36 for the pintles 37 which are positioned inwardly of the apertures to serve as pivotal supports for the levers 38. The numeral 39 designates a cylindrical member depending from the table and forming an extension of each of the apertures 31, the lower end being slotted at 39a to receive the outer end of the lever arm 38 when this member assumes its normal horizontal position indicated in Fig. 2. The inner end of this lever bar 38 is provided with a weight 40 tending to maintain the outer end thereof in its horizontal position in the slot 39a. It will be understood of course, that each of the bottle receiving apertures is provided with extension 39 and lever 38, and that the outer terminal of said lever extends slightly through and beyond slot 39?.

In order to hold the table against rotary movement under the4 influence of the weight 14, I provide an arm 41 pivota'lly mounted at its upper end in the wall of the tank and connected at said upper end with a trip lever 42 positioned exteriorly of the wall of the tank, the lower end of the arm 41 being provided withv an abutment 43 disposed normally in the path of the outwardly projecting ends of the lever arms 38 during rotary movement of the table. This abutment therefore acts as a stop member whenever it is'engaged by any one of said lever arms 38. However,,disengagement of that lever arm then in engagement with said abutment may be effected in either of two ways, namely, by the introduction of a bottle A into that particular aperture below which the lever arm extends, (Fig. 6), or by moving the trip lever 42 on an arc sufliciently to effect a disengagement.

rihe reference numeral 44 designates Va platform supported by the frame 10, at one side thereof, and extending toward and in the plane of the table 30, this platform serving to provide storage space for the full bottles at one side thereof and at the other or right-hand side for the bottles which have been emptied andl taken out from the apparatus. Assuming that the table rotates in a clockwise directiomthe full bottles will be fed into the apertures from the left-hand end portion a ofthe platform 44 and are taken out empty fromthe right-hand portion a of said platform, the first full bottle being placed in inverted position at the point indicated by the reference letter x', and when empty taken out preferably at the point marked e, and at the former point the stop abutment may be located, if desired, and of course in engagement with the lever arm 38 of whatever particular aperture may be in registration with this point In the operation ofthe apparatus thus far described, it will be obvious that immediately upon the insertion at the point m of a full bottle, in inverted position so as to drain from the aperture into the tank, the outer end of the lever 38 will be depressed suiiiciently to disengage from lthe abutment 43, thus releasing the table for movement, in a` clockwise direction, on a short arc until the succeeding lever arm 38 of the next aperture 31 abuts the stop member 43. Thereupon the next bottle is placed in the last mentioned aperture which now in registration with the point depressing the lever 38 and permitting the table to move forward another step. This feeding in of the bottles continues, and by the'V time the table has moved through a half revolution the first bottle at lea'sthas been emptied of its contents. In order to cleanse this bottle, and successivel bottles in due course, I `provide slightly in advance of point e a compartment 44a whose inner wall 45 rests on the base 16 of the tank and which has its bent end portions 45? tightly abutting the wall of the tank. Extending into that end of the compartment first reachedbytlie bottles is a valvular device 46 preferably'conprising a body 47 suitably connected to source of water supply and formed with a central passage 48 terminating in a lateral 48a. Ro tatably mounted on this body is arfour-'way valve casing 49 provided, as shown in Figs. 5, 7 and 9, with four outlet passages 50 and with a similar number' of adjacently positioned projecting` arms 51, one of which is always disposed in the path of the depressed lever arms 38, in order to be moved thereby, so that an outlet 50 may register with the lateral 48a co-incident with the arrival of the bottle above the lateral, thus directing a jet or stream of water vertically past the arm 38 into the bottle. Further movement of the table serves to close off the outlet and the bottle thenceforward proceeds to drain and by the time it reaches point e it is ready to be taken out. Successive bottles receive exactly the same treatment, the entire operation being of a continuous sort and wholly under the control of the operator, particularly in view of the fact that the rate of table movement dependent upon the rate of feed. It is worthy of note'that' when the table in a clockwise direction between m and s is in' receipt of its full quota of bottles, one aperture in advance of X is left vacant, since otherwise the table would revolve until the weight 14 ran down owing tothe depression of all the lever arms. Spig'ots 52 and 53 are provided respectively to draw the milk or cream from the tank interior and the water from the comparament 44, cans 54 and 55 being desirably located to receive the former and latter, respectively.

The tank, and the various parts of the table rmechanism within it, may be readily cleaned, if desired, by filling the former with water after ally the bottles are removed, and

then' by manipulating the trip lever onv an arc to move the stop 43 out ofthe path of movement ofthe lever arms 38, the table will revolve freely, and in revolving will subject all interior i i cleansing.

l do not intend to limit myselfto the preoise details of construction shown, or to the exact arrangement of the variousparts, as it will obviousV that modifications Iand variations of the same may bemade without parts to a thorough departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as pointed out in the following claims.

What I claim is:

l. In bottle emptying apparatus, the combination of a tank, a revoluble table, stop means therefor, said table provided with a series of bottle receiving apertures into Which the bottles are adapted to be successively positioned in inverted position for the emptying of their contents into said tank, and means in the path of introduction of the bottles for releasing said table intermittently from said stop means as the bottles are progressively fed into the apertures.

2. The combination With a stop element and a receptacle, a revoluble bottle carrying table provided with a series of bottle holding apertures, a valve positioned below said table to direct a stream of Water into the bottles in succession as the table revolves, means in the path of introduction of the bottles for releasing said table intermittently from said stop element, said receptacle positioned to receive the Water as it drains from the bottles, and means carried by said table for alternately opening and closing said valve in ploalse With the intermittent movement of the ta e.

3. The combination of a liquid receiving member and a stop element, a revoluble table normally engaging said element and having a plurality of apertures into which bottles are adapted to be successively placed in inverted position to empty into said receiving member, means positioned in the path of introduction of the bottles for releasing said table intermittently from said stop element upon positioning of the bottles in the apertures, and means for imparting rotary movement to said table.

4f. The combination of a revoluble table and a stop device therefor, separate liquid receptacles adjacently disposed below said table, means for imparting rotary movement to said table, said table provided with a series of bottle emptying apertures, means in the path of introduction of the bottles for Copies ot this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the releasing said table intermittently from said stop device, whereby said table has intermittent rotary movement, one of said receptacles positioned to receive the contents of the emptied bottles, and a valve for directing a stream of Water into the emptied bottles upon rotary movement of the table, said other receptacle positioned With reference to said valve to receive the Water draining from said last mentioned bottles.

5. The combination of a two-part tank and a revoluble table thereabove, stop means for said table, said table provided with a series of bottle receiving apertures into which the bottles are successively inverted for emptying into one part of said tank, means positioned in the path of introduction of the bottles adapted as the bottles are successively fed into the apertures to intermittently release the table from and then engage it with said stop means as the table revolves, and a valve positioned to direct a stream of Water into said bottles as they successively register with the other part of the tank, said valve constructed and arranged to be opened and closed by said bottle actuated means.

6. In bottle emptying apparatus, the combination of a frame, a receptacle, a stop element, a table mounted in said frame for horizontal rotary movement above said receptacle and provided with a series of bottle receiving apertures into Which bottles are adapted to be successively positioned vertically in inverted position to empty into said receptacle as the table revolves, tension means associated with said table tending to impart movement thereto during the introduction of the bottles into the apertures, and actuable means carried by said table and operatively positioned with reference to said element whereby said table is normally held against rotation, said means constructed and arranged during the introduction of the bottles to intermittently and then engage it lWith said element as the table revolves; substantially as described.

HENRY BAYER.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

release said table from 

